Studying Music Doesn’t Make You Smarter

There’s this popular notion that learning to play music will help a person to somehow become smarter and foster their overall creativity. But new research suggests that’s all baloney. Anthony explains the new report and why the benefit of music might just be myth after all.

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Musical myth

“Children get plenty of benefits from music lessons — learning to play an instrument can be a great outlet for a child’s creativity, and the repeated practice can teach much-needed focus and discipline. What’s more, the payoff, whether it’s learning a new song — or just mastering a new chord — is often a boost of self-esteem.”

Mozart effect

The Mozart Effect

“In 1993 Rauscher et al.1 made the surprising claim that, after listening to Mozart’s sonata for two pianos (K448) for 10 minutes, normal subjects showed significantly better spatial reasoning skills than after periods of listening to relaxation instructions designed to lower blood pressure or silence.”

Does listening to Mozart really boost your brainpower?

“You have probably heard of the Mozart effect. It’s the idea that if children or even babies listen to music composed by Mozart they will become more intelligent.”

Musicians have ‘more grey matter’

“Professional musicians have more grey matter in a part of the brain involved in processing music, scientists have found.”

Music improves brain power – in some performers

“Mozart increases mental mass. Scientists revealed yesterday that members of a British symphony orchestra had more little grey cells than ordinary people in a part of the brain known as Broca’s area.”

It’s Official: Musicians’ Brains Are Different

“I read a few years back that cab drivers in London grow a larger hippocampus in their brains as they gain what’s known as “The Knowledge” (of the city’s roadways), but I hadn’t heard of any similar thing going on with musicians.”

Listening to Music Lights Up the Whole Brain

” Finnish researchers have developed a groundbreaking new method that allows to study how the brain processes different aspects of music, such as rhythm, tonality and timbre (sound color) in a realistic listening situation.”